We have been getting a lot of questions from our members about the facility charge and wholesale power cost adjustment on their bills since the recent rate increase. It is important to note that prior to the rate increase, the bills had the facility charge and the wholesale power cost adjustment charges included in the kWh energy charge. In an effort to be more transparent and to make the bills easier to understand, we now break out all the charges as separate line items on your bills. 

What is the facility charge? This is a recurring monthly charge that recovers the fixed cost of providing electricity to your home. It includes the operational expenses of Marshall County REMC that are shared equally by each class of service which does not vary with the amount of electricity you use. It recovers some of the costs related to line maintenance, right-of-way maintenance, metering, billing, accounting and other expenses for Marshall County REMC. 

What is the wholesale power cost adjustment? As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, Marshall County REMC provides electricity to you at cost — meaning Marshall does not profit from selling you electricity. The wholesale power cost adjustment is an adjustment made to your electric bill each month to reflect fluctuations in the true cost of power purchased from Marshall’s provider, Wabash Valley Power Alliance. 

The fluctuation is largely caused by changes in the cost of fuel for power generation. The wholesale power cost adjustment now appears as a separate line item on each member’s bill every month. This adjustment becomes a part of all the Marshall County REMC’s retail rates schedules and is applicable to all sales. 

The wholesale power cost adjustment is calculated each month and allows Marshall’s monthly rates to stay consistent rather than changing every time the generation cost of energy fluctuates. Marshall County REMC receives no benefit or profit from the wholesale power cost adjustment. 

As always, we are here to answer any questions, and we encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or would like your bill explained in further detail.